t swear to them,
for I did not get a fair sight of them before, but they were about
the same size and height, and it was clear that they did not wish
to be recognized."

Rupert made no reply for a while, but thought the matter over.

"Well, Hugh, I wish it had not been so, for I hate quarrels and
brawls, but I do not think that we need be uneasy, especially now
that we are warned. The boat carries but three men, and as we shall
have our pistols and swords, I imagine that we are a match for
these Dutch boatmen. See that the pistols are loaded, and say
naught to our kind friends here as to your suspicions. I would not
make them uncomfortable."

Before taking leave of their friends, Rupert was drawn aside by
Mynheer Von Duyk, who begged to know if he had any necessity for
money, and assured him that then or at any other time he should be
glad to honour any drafts that Rupert might draw upon him.

"I am not a man of many words," he said, "but in saving my daughter
from that ruffian you have laid me under an obligation which I
should be glad to discharge with half my fortune. I am, as you
know, a rich man--I may say a very rich man. Had you been a few
years older, I would gladly have given my daughter to you did your
inclination and hers jump that way. As it is, I can only regard you
as a younger brother of hers, and view you as a sort of son by
adoption. Young men in cavalry regiments require horses and have
many expenses, and you will really pain me much if you refuse to
allow me to act as your banker. I have, believing that you would
not take it wrongly, paid in to your account with the paymaster of
your regiment the sum of two hundred pounds, and have told him that
the same sum would be paid to your account annually so long as the
regiment might be in Flanders, and that he may further cash any
order drawn by you upon my house.

"There now, my daughter is waiting, and the hour for sailing is at
hand. Do not let us say any more about it."

So saying he hurried Rupert out into the hall where Maria Von Duyk
was waiting, before he could have raised any objection, had he
wished to do so. But in truth Rupert felt that he could not refuse
the kind offer without giving pain, and he knew moreover that this
allowance, which to the rich merchant was a mere trifle, would add
greatly to his comfort, and enable him to enter more freely than he
had yet done in the plans and pursuits of his brother officers, who
were for the mos